Conferences

The Beat Goes On

An update on Gateway's Heart for the Kingdom initiatives.

Each year, Gateway announces several initiatives to help build God’s kingdom here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. During the past few years, the expansion and remodel of several Gateway campuses as well as the addition of new campuses have been a part of Heart

for the Kingdom, and through your faithful and extravagant giving, we’ve been able to see God move in more ways and in more places than ever before. And there’s more to come! Here are a few updates on some of Gateway’s Heart for the Kingdom initiatives from the past few years.

HEART FOR THE KINGDOM UPDATES

Grand Prairie Campus Remodel
In January of this year, the Grand Prairie Campus reopened its doors after nearly a year of construction. (This included seven months of meeting in a tent!) The construction included adding Equip classrooms, remodeling the Auditorium, remodeling the children’s area, and adding more parking spaces to make it a fully functioning Gateway campus. It’s been 10 months since the reopening, and the campus has grown tremendously!

Last year, the Grand Prairie Campus offered no Equip classes because they had no classrooms. This fall, they’re offering 15 Equip classes in 4 newly added classrooms.

In the past year, the average attendance has gone up almost 1,000 adults and 300 kids per weekend.

On the weekend of September 10–11, the campus had its highest regular weekend attendance so far: 3,096 people—this includes 766 kids in children’s ministry! That is a 40% increase from last year at that time.

During the outreach series in September, 312 people made decisions for Christ.

NRH Campus Remodel

As Gateway’s first extension cam- pus, NRH hasn’t seen any significant updates for a long time, but the plans for a campus makeover are complete, and construction will begin in mid-November. Construction will occur in phases, allowing for more Equip classes, better guest interactions, and more room for children’s ministry and playtime. Weekend services will continue as usual during the construction.

Plans include:

Converting the Chat Room to The Mix (a classroom for 5th–6th graders).

Adding 2 large classrooms.

Building a Bubble Land indoor play area for children.

Moving the Gateway Bookstore into the Serve Lounge location.

Creating a place for Guest Central.

Addition of the Dallas Campus

In March of this year, we added the Dallas Campus as Gateway’s sixth campus in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It was a very exciting time, and since then, the campus has participated or hosted several community events that are impacting the city of Dallas.

Dallas Solidarity

After the police shootings on July 7, the Dallas community gathered for an interdenominational prayer rally, and several Gateway Dallas pastors and staff participated. The staff locked hands and lifted up prayers with hundreds of other religious leaders in the community and showed our support for all life in the city of Dallas. Later, the team also prayed at the site of the shooting with other leaders, asking God for reconciliation and peace.

“To the Jew First”

Because the city of Dallas has a large Jewish population and Gateway believes in going “to the Jew first,” our Dallas Campus staff has reached out to several Jewish synagogues and nonprofits to build relationships. We’ve given to several nonprofit organizations, like Jewish Family Services, to support their work in the city. And early on, Gunnar Johnson, the executive pastor of pastoral care at Gateway Dallas, went to the synagogue down the street to introduce himself to the rabbi there. They have since become friends, and the rabbi told Pastor Gunnar that he’s never had a Christian pastor come sit in his office and offer friendship.

On May 4, the campus hosted a Holocaust Remembrance event and invited the local Jewish community to honor those who were lost during the Holocaust and pray for God to heal the hurts of the past. As we reached out to the Jewish community to join us, many were surprised that a Christian church would want to honor the Jewish heritage. About 400 people attended, and more relational bridges were formed.

From August 5 through 14, the Dallas Campus hosted the Gateway Performing Arts’ summer production of Fiddler on the Roof. Because the show centers around a Jewish family, it was another way for the Dallas community to see Gateway’s love for the Jewish people and for us to minister to them.

Your dedicated prayers and devoted giving has made all of these things a reality, and you share in each victory with us. Thank you for your heart for the kingdom.